Marketing Communications Blog

Management and you

It's been awhile since I last spoke about this and I believe that it is time to again bring it up.

Was recently filling out a survey for the U.S. government and they asked me about management and what I thought.  You know me, I can't not have a "thought" about something, so, I listed a few items of what I thought was important, what wasn't important, what was a must and what to look for in poor manager.

But, I digress - what I really wanted to talk about is if you are a manager in your company, meaning, you manage more then one person, then, you must take it seriously.  Reading magazine, the web, etc., so many small company owners say "I don't have time for my employee's", and they don't understand why they are not as successful as they should be. 

The same is with a manager of a large business or company - that they again say "I have so many employee's, I can't find the time to manage them", and then don't understand why they don't accomplish the goals and tasks that they were assigned.

Management of an employee doesn't mean that you have to spend 10 hours a week with an employee. 

I have come to realize that spending five minutes a day with each staff member not only makes them feel good, but it keeps them focused and on track and, of course, it keeps you informed on where and what is happening with your staff and their projects.

You can spend an hour a day or five minutes a day, it is up to you.  But, I must advise you, that it is the questions that are the most important. Asking how the kids are vs. where the project stands is the difference of 10 minutes vs. 2 minutes.

A suggestion, and you can ask any previous staff of mine about this, and they will ALL agree - tell your staff, when you first hire them or inherit them, that "I am concerned about your welfare and personal health.  I am busy, like you, and I will NOT ask you every day how your family is, how your health is, and so on.  I will come across rude and in haste, and let me assure you that that is not the case - I will ask you some quick questions so I know where we all stand and move on, so you can get back to doing your work - and so can I."

Simple and effective.  It even comes back to a previous post that I have done, where I talk about my staff working whatever hours they want, as long as they get the job done in the time required. Please see that post.

It is up to you to manage your staff and manage YOUR time.  You don't have to be a friend to everyone, and you don't have to be an a**hole. Be yourself, and if you can't believe that, speak up, tell your staff how you manage, and manage everyones expectations.

Good Luck.

Posted by blaine at 06:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How not to be a boss

A few months ago, I was called into a small company to help them get out of tremendous debt, increase sales, and maintain customer relations.

After the first month, working 16 hours days, seven days a week, and numerous meetings and calls, I came into the office one morning and received a call from one of the two partners.  

Understand something, one partner worked in the office with me, the other (who the call came from) worked 1000 miles away and gave, maybe, two hours a day of time to the company.  The partner who worked a thousand miles away was the legal president of the company, the partner I worked with in the office was the secretary - but, both were equal partners in the company - but, he was the president, so buyers and outside people/contacts spoke with him first.

So, I received a call from the president, who maybe, during the past month, gave me four hours of his time for the whole month, while the partner in the office gave me at least eight hours a day.

This is how NOT to be a boss or even someone appreciative of someone else's efforts:

The president says "Thank you Blaine, for all of your hard work, it will not go unnoticed".

What???!!! There are only five people in the company; two partners, two sales reps, and a secretary.  The two partners have seen my work, my reports, my recommendations, etc. on a daily basis - and now the president says that it hasn't gone unnoticed? This is as funny as it is sad. First, I was a consultant and not an employee - I was being paid no matter what they noticed or didn't notice. Second, was I going to get a raise or a bonus because of my work? We already agreed to the payment. Third, everyone had told me that they hated the president, that he was condescending, not to be trusted, etc., and here I got an idea of what they were talking about. And so on and so on. 

I guess the question had to be asked - what did he expect to accomplish by making this statement?  That I would work harder? That I would make their debt disappear?

Even months later, I think of this statement and have to start laughing.  No wonder the company was in the situation it was in - someone was president of this company and no idea how to talk to a consultant, let alone an employee. 

Don't become like this individual.  Realize that your employee's are smarter then you think and that platitudes are just that, wasteful breaths of air that don't help anyone, especially if your the boss. 

Posted by blaine at 07:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wiki's - Are they really real?

Need to follow-up on a previous posting I did some time ago.  Was reading some research today and "whallah!!", very few companies are having much success with their wiki's.  According to the research, employee's of the companies were either not interested, did not have the time, or the information that was there was irrelevant or not of help to those employee's.

The research went on to further state what I had mentioned some time ago, that wiki's, if allowed to be viewed by individuals outside the company, could contian information that could hurt or embarass the company. That that information, if not shared and updated and, most importantly, protected, could help a company grow and be more productive.

Keep trying to make it work - a Wiki can hurt your company, but, it can also help your company - it is up to your IT department and all the employee's who contribute to protect it and make it grow.

Posted by blaine at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)